Eating for a Long and Healthy Life
I often ponder on the marvel of the human machine, what it is capable of and how robust it is in the face of the modern scenario of high stress manic living. As the leading organism on the planet we have certainly achieved a great deal in the few thousand years we have enjoyed this enviable position. But with this sophistication have we made things too easy with too much choice and too many ways of being comfortable. Imagine how odd the concept of going to a gym would be to a farm worker of 200 years ago! That person would have faced a good few problems but sitting behind a desk getting soggy muscles would not have been one.
I think we can look at the lifestyle we have today and identify a few problem areas, most the spoils from our success. One is the availability of food, year in year out you can eat as much as you want, easily, and what an unseen amount of choice we have!
Not such a good thing sometimes is it? Food producers bombard us with information and stimulus to buy their product, the health food industry has sprung up in the last 70 years to supply more information and more products. It is easy to see how it can become confusing. My advice here is to eat natural food and be rightly wary of manufactured food stuffs, once eating natural foods again your instincts will lead the way.
Portion size is a real problem too, eating slowly and allowing your food to hit your stomach is a good idea, this will allow you to feel full and satisfied without over eating and feeling uncomfortable.
Exercise was never a problem; imagine washing your clothes by hand or chopping a tree down, into logs then carting them home to burn for heat. A little different from adjusting the thermostat then sitting back down in front of the telly! Get out get active get a dog! Do what ever you have to do to be generally more active, your body is a use is or lose it machine, maintain it!
Now I love food and I love the social aspect of eating, so I want to be around long enough to enjoy this over and over again. So how will I ensure that? I just make sure each time I eat, I eat a little. Being overweight puts a strain on every internal organ, every joint AND makes it harder to be fully active. Do a little experiment now, get a backpack and 6 1 litre bottles of mineral water (full of course) now put the back pack on and walk around and up and down stairs. That’s the extra strain of being just under a stone overweight.
I hope this motivates you to eat naturally and get in shape.
March 19th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
I personally dont think that organic foods are all that they claim to be, but for a long life you want to look at foods that have antioxidants like berries….especially blue berries. also, foods that protect you from the things that shorten life like heart disease. this includes fish (omega3)
most of all, moderation in all things…dont over do on any food, and eat lean, fresh, and in season
March 19th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
This is easy. Don't worry.
*eat lots of fruits and veggies – raw is best
*eat WHOLE grain breads and pastas – not enriched flour or enriched whole wheat flour
*don't eat hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils
*don't eat fried foods
*eat lean meats (you can eat beef, but stick with flank steak, low fat ground beef, and top or bottom round steak cuts)
*eat raw sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds – you can put them on salads or in trail mixes
*dairy is great, yogurt is excellent
*don't eat refined white table sugar (like Domino's) – use all-natural sugar or honey (even maple syrup is better than white sugar because it retains its nutrients whereas the nutrients in white sugar have been stripped out)
*no soda! drink water and skim milk
*no juice drinks – only drink 100% juice
*no sports drinks – they are full of sugars
*eat wild or brown rice – not white
*don't eat foods with corn syrup (you'll find corn syrup in sauces, spreads, desserts, condiments…)
*eat all fruit spreads instead of jelly
*eat fish
March 20th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
An obese person feels the urge to eat often because he/she feels as though it brings a moment of happiness. Sure being fat isn't but a slice of cheesecake or a cookie certainly does. In order to motivate a person to eat healthier and choose a more activate lifestyle, you have to make it rewarding for that person to do so. This is not a quick diet and workout but a lifetime commitment and change of style.
One of the biggest factor you have to remember is that the obese person has been programmed to turn to food for many underlining issues. Some may be "I get a cookie/sweet when I am good." "When I am bored and there's nothing to do, I eat." "I feel so empty inside, so unhappy, I might as well eat this cookie to make me happy." You have to get ride of these old programming before the obese person has any chance of losing weight permanently.
Then you have to reprogram the person to enjoy food in a nutritional way and attach happiness to exercise and having fun. If the workout is no fun, why would a person want to coninue doing it? Maybe try tennis, skating, swimming or something fun.
And remember that it takes 30 days to make a habit of something. Good Luck.